GoW dev: PSP power can rival some PS3 games

The handheld is capable of 'things that not many people know it can do'.

Sony's PSP has the power to produce games which not only match the output on PS2, but in some cases titles on the PS3, Ready at Dawn co-founder and creative director Ru Weerasuriya has told VideoGamer.com.

Ready at Dawn has just completed development of the PSP exclusive action game, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, having previously worked on God of War: Chains of Olympus and Daxter.

Asked if the PSP has a future as a gaming platform, Weerasuriya said: "It can. It can if you make it more attainable, on the software side, on the ease of use, on the PSN side. Yes you can get there but I think PSP as a platform, as purely a hardware, technologically: it's an awesome platform. It does things that not many people know it can do."

He added: "Just power-wise, it is something that can rival a lot of games if not the majority of games on PS2 and even some on PS3. It can do some pretty amazing stuff but at the same time, let's say, it's had a bad life. It's had a bad growth. And although it's sold very well, in people's minds it doesn't have the feel that it should. They view it and they view it as a DS. And the PSP is not. The DS is for casual experiences and more for short burst gameplay. If the PSP had been sold as 'you know what, this is your home console in your hand' it would have had a great future."

However, Weerasuriya said his studio is now done with the PSP.

"Although we've said it before, this [God of War: Ghost of Sparta] is definitely it for us. We needed to prove and we needed to feel we could do something else for the platform," said Weerasuriya. "And at this time we don't feel that anymore. We don't feel there's more that the platform needs from us. Maybe somebody else can do that but at this point we feel like we've maximised the platform."

God of War: Ghost of Sparta will be released for PSP on November 5. Check out the full interview here.

VideoGamer.com Analysis

Ready at Dawn's PSP titles have been technical showcases for the platform, but few other studios were able to bring such quality to the handheld.

With the PSP seemingly on the way out - Sony's already heavily discounted the PSPgo - it looks like Weerasuriya is right to pursue future developments on other platforms.